Film: Hitchcock

GENRE: Drama/Biography

RATING: PG-13 for violent images and sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 38 minutes

STARRING: Anthony Hopkins (Thor, Nixon, Silence of the Lambs )

Helen Mirren (Reds, The Queen) Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation)

DIRECTOR: Sacha Gervasi (newcomer)

WRITER: John J McLaughlin (Black Swan, Carnivale)

PLOT: Hitchcock’s marriage to his wife Alma is in trouble while he is obsessed with the making of Psycho.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 As a media teacher, I really enjoyed the behind the scenes look at the making of a popular yet controversial film. I loved the scenes with the censors. I found it interesting that there is no mention of Hitchcock shooting the film in black & white.

2 Hopkins does a great job as Hitchcock even with the heavy prosthetics. Mirren is also fantastic, as usual. They have some truly amazing scenes together.

3 I love the Hitchcock one-liners throughout the film. What a wicked sense of humour. I don’t know who to credit though; is it the screenwriter, the novelist or Hitchcock himself. Either way, these lines are so fun to listen to.

4 While I understood the idea behind the Ed Gein fantasies, I wish more was done with it, like add more outrageous imagery. That or take it out all together.

5 I enjoyed how they tried to show the famous Hitchcock silhouette as much as humanely possible.

RECOMMENDATION: Fine on DVD

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Django Unchained, Les Miserables